Day 307: La Reunion to South Africa – 09/11/10

While I sleep the wind carries on at 40 knots and more and we manage to keep going at nearly 10 knots with virtually no genoa up at all as we are being helped by the current which is running at 3 knots going south with us.  Eventually, 20 miles away from Richards Bay the wind starts to die down a little, to about 30 knots although there are gusts over 50 knots which are a little scary.

We start to turn in towards the coast but even though we are now pointing in towards the coast we are still going in exactly the same direction as before, taken sideways south by the very strong current.  Obviously we need to have some power to get across this and towards land but don’t want to put any sail out as the wind is still gusting to 40 knots.  Mike turns on both engines to power ourselves out of the current and after about half an hour of gradually getting closer to land (but still going sideways) we are suddenly out of the current and heading in towards land rapidly.  The seas become much calmer and the worst is obviously over.

Then the wind dies away to nothing and just as Mike thinks the last 10 miles is going to be a nice gentle motor down the coast, the wind suddenly starts up from the south west instead of from the north and we are now motoring into 20 knots of wind and lumpy seas, only making 3.5 knots.  Having previously covered 10 miles in one hour, the last 10 take us about 3 hours.

Mike drags me out of bed and I start to call rally control to let them know we have arrived.  I get fully dressed as it is cold and damp.  While Mike puts on the warps and fenders, I take the helm, a terrifying prospect for me and every boat around us.  We are met by Paul in a fast rib with a couple of policemen who are there to guide us into the Zululand Yacht Club.  I follow the rib slowly (Paul making comments about it being all right if it takes me all night) but start to get very nervous as we approach the marina and am grateful when Mike takes over the helm.

We tie up and other boats come go greet us.  As it is 2 am local time, this is really lovely of them.  The commodore of the yacht club arrives and gives us a bottle of champagne which the two of us chug down straight from the bottle on the quayside.  Voyageur come in just half an hour after us and get their bottle although have a little more decorum than us and get glasses out.

We hit the sack and fall asleep almost immediately even though the bed feels disgustingly damp.

In the morning Mike sets up the shore power so that we can have air conditioning to dry out the boat and I strip the beds and do a pile of laundry so that we can have nice, fresh sheets.

Getting hooked up with the internet we discover that the transformer for the generator has not yet made it to Richards Bay even though it was shipped out on 4 November.  Here we go!

More boats continue to arrive.  Tucanon came in during the night, then Crazy Horse.  Bev and I put our Crazy Horse tee shirts on to welcome them and do a tiny cheerleader thing with Sophia on the dock as added entertainment. 

Photo:  The Crazy Horse fan club – Sophia, me and Bev

Later Chessie and Brown Eyed Girl arrive but I am into the laundry by now and don’t see them actually tying up.  Then Eowyn arrives and is rafted up next to us again.  More dirty footprints – sigh!

As usual at the end of something stressful, Mike has a bad headache and goes to bed.  I try to have a late afternoon nap but don’t manage to sleep.  Then the rain and the wind starts, just as predicted.  It gets really dark and we have thunder and lightning.  I am glad we weren’t out on the ocean in this.

In the evening I go down to the bar and have a drink with Sophia, Jared, Charlie and Richie but only stay for one as I also have a headache.  On the way back to the boat I stop off at Ocean Jasper as they have come in while I have been at the bar and Maggie and Bob are there celebrating their arrival.  It’s great to see them at last.  As I walk down the dock I see Basia, the last of the fleet, mooring up. 

I still cannot believe that we have made it across nearly 18000 miles and two oceans to Africa.  On top of that, one of those oceans is the vile Indian Ocean, and our boats have made it across battle scarred with their crews exhausted – but safe!  Within a few days, lots of the boats will start to depart for Cape Town as lots of crews are heading home for Christmas  or going off to explore inland.

 

Our position is:  28 deg 47 min S, 32 deg 04 min E

Distance so far:  17882 nautical miles